US5609241A - Training idler assembly for a conveyor system - Google Patents
Training idler assembly for a conveyor system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US5609241A US5609241A US08/408,773 US40877395A US5609241A US 5609241 A US5609241 A US 5609241A US 40877395 A US40877395 A US 40877395A US 5609241 A US5609241 A US 5609241A
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- belt
- idler roller
- idler
- carriage
- cables
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G39/00—Rollers, e.g. drive rollers, or arrangements thereof incorporated in roller-ways or other types of mechanical conveyors
- B65G39/10—Arrangements of rollers
- B65G39/12—Arrangements of rollers mounted on framework
- B65G39/16—Arrangements of rollers mounted on framework for aligning belts or chains
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a training idler assembly for a conveyor system and in one of its aspects relates to a self-adjusting, training idler assembly which includes a mechanism for providing a quick response time in re-centering a conveyor belt should the belt begin to track to one side or the other.
- Conveyor systems designed for moving lumped or granulated material, e.g. mined coal or the like, for long distances may include several individual conveyor belts which "overlap" each other. That is, one belt moves the material along a first distance and then deposits the material onto a second belt which then carries the material a second distance, and so forth, until the material reaches its destination. Even though several belts may be used in a single conveyor system, each belt may still have to have a substantial length, e.g. 2000 to 3000 feet.
- this contact between the belt and the hangers results both in wear to the belt and damage to the hangers and, in severe cases, may even present a fire hazard.
- training idlers have been installed to help in re-aligning a belt as it begins to track to one side or the other.
- the training idler orients itself such that, if the belt tracks in the center of the travel path, the idler will remain substantially perpendicular to the centerline of the travel path of the belt. However, (looking down on the belt and in the direction of belt travel), if the belt tracks to the right, the idler will rotate counter-clockwise in the horizontal plane about its center which tends to draw the belt back to the left, thereby re-centering the belt along its path. If the belt tracks to the left, the idler rotates clockwise to again re-center the belt.
- known prior art training idlers routinely experience problems when a conveyor belt is less than full width and is fully loaded from side to side with the material to be transported.
- known training idlers have a slow response time when a belt moves significantly off track. That is, the belt can track significantly to one side (e.g. two or more inches) before it touches a side roller and then will move even further as it pushes against that side roller to correct the tracking of the belt. This will often result in substantial spillage of the material from the belt before the prior art, training idlers react to re-center the belt.
- the belt must be substantially full width along its entire length.
- a long conveyor belt had approximately 5 inches of its width ripped off one side along several hundred feet of its length when a misalignment at the head end of the belt caused a sharp edge of steel to cut the belt. Because of the reduced width and the resulting movement of the belt back and forth across the tail roller during travel, the belt could no longer adequately carry coal. Every two to three weeks, the tail piece would plug and would cause the belt to go down. This required several man-hours of shoveling just to get the belt moving again with several additional man-hours required to remove the remaining spillage.
- the present invention provides a training idler assembly for use with a conveyor belt system which quickly responds to any side-to-side misalignment of the belt to thereby return the belt to its centered position on the idler roller of the idler assembly.
- the idler roller is rigged through cables to hinged guide rollers which engage either side of the conveyor belt as the belt travels along its path. If the belt tracks either to the right or to the left, the respective guide roller actuates the appropriate cable to cause the idler roller to rotate about a vertical axis which, in turn, causes the belt to track back towards its center position on the idler roller.
- the present training idler assembly is comprised of a fixed support having a pair of hinged arms mounted thereon about vertical axes, one on either side of the fixed support.
- Each arm carries a guide roller which is adapted to ride against the respective sides of the conveyor belt while the belt is in operation.
- a carriage carrying an idler roller is pivotably mounted on the fixed support about a vertical axis.
- the idler roller will engage the lower surface of the conveyor belt to support and guide the belt while the belt is moving.
- the carriage, hence the idler roller is rotated about its vertical axis by a pair of symmetrically-rigged cables, the lengths of which may be adjusted by a turnbuckle or the like.
- Each cable is attached at one end to one respective side of the carriage and passes (a) through a sheave mounted on same one side of the fixed support; (b) back through a sheave mounted on the same side of the carriage; (c) back through a second sheave mounted on the same side of the fixed support; (d) through a sheave mounted on the hinged arm, which is on the same side of the fixed support, and (e) finally through a third sheave which is mounted on the fixed support.
- a single, freely-suspended weight is then attached to both of the other ends of the cables.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the training idler assembly in accordance with the present invention with the conveyor belt being broken away;
- FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 but including an upper portion of the conveyor belt not shown in FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3A is a top view of the training idler assembly of FIG. 1 as it appears when the conveyor belt is in its centered position on said idler roller;
- FIG. 3B is a top view of the training idler assembly of FIG. 1 when the conveyor belt has tracked to one side.
- FIGS. 1-3B illustrate a training idler assembly 10 in accordance with the present invention when in an operable position with respect to a conveyor belt 11.
- conveyor belt 11 is a continuous belt which passes over a head roller 12 and a tail roller (not shown) and travels in the direction of the arrows while carrying lumped or granular material 13 (e.g. mined coal).
- lumped or granular material 13 e.g. mined coal.
- the terms "right”, “left”, “front”, “back”, “head”, “tail”, etc. are used in their relative sense and will applied as if one is looking down on the belt and in the direction of the belt travel.
- Training idler 10 is comprised of a support 14 which is affixed to a permanent base (not shown) so that the fixed support 14 will not move.
- Fixed support 14 has a pair of hinged arms 15 pivotably mounted thereon about vertical axes 16, one on either side of the support as shown in the drawings.
- Rotatably mounted on each arm 15 is a guide roller 17.
- the guide rollers 17 are adapted to ride against the respective sides of the return portion of belt 1 la at all times during belt operation.
- Idler roller 20 Pivotably mounted on fixed support 14 about a vertical axis 18 is carriage 19.
- Idler roller 20 is mounted for rotation on carriage 19 by bearing blocks 21 or the like. As shown, roller 20 engages the lower surface of the return portion 11a of belt 11 to support and guide said belt during its travel but can also be positioned under the upper portion or conveying portion of the belt, as will be understood in the art.
- Carriage 19 is moved or rotated about its vertical axis 18 by a pair of symmetrically-rigged cables 22. Since each of which follows a identical "block-and-tackle" rigging path on different sides of the idler assembly 10, only one will be described in detail below.
- Each cable 22 is attached at one (22a) of its ends to carriage 19, one cable being attached to on one (e.g. right) side of carriage 19 and the other cable being attached to the other (e.g. left) side of the carriage.
- Turnbuckles 23 or the like may be provided in the respective cables 22 to adjust the lengths thereof.
- Each cable 22 is passed (a) through a respective sheave or pulley 24 which is mounted on the same respective side of an extending portion 14a of fixed support 14; (b) through a sheave or pulley 25 which is mounted on the same side of said carriage 19; (c) back through a second sheave or pulley 26 mounted on said same respective side of said fixed support portion 14a; (d) through a sheave or pulley 27 which is mounted on an extending portion 15a of the respective hinged arm 15 and (e) finally through a third sheave or pulley 28 which is mounted on a further extension 14b of fixed support 14.
- the other ends 22b of cables 22 are both connected to the same single freely, suspended weight 30.
- each cable 22 Since the rigging is identical on either side of the trainer idler assembly and each cable 22 is connected to the same weight 30, the tension in cable 22 equals approximately half of weight 30 which tends to keep guide rollers 17 against the respective edges of belt 11a. If the need ever arises, the length of each cable 22 may be varied via turnbuckles 23 to intentionally align belt 11 off of the centerline of the conveyor system.
- belt 11 In operation, if belt 11 begins to track to one side (e.g. to the left as shown in FIG. 3B), the left edge of the belt 11a will begin to push the left side guide roller 17 outward whereupon left side cable 22L will tend to lift weight 30 thereby increasing tension in cable 22L while right side cable 22R slackens.
- the line tension is multiplied through the "block and tackle" effect of the cable rigging and exerts a force of several (theorically three) times that of the weight 30 onto carriage 19 to cause it to rotate in the opposite direction about its vertical axis 18 (clockwise in FIG. 3B) to counteract the mis-tracking of the belt.
- belt 11 As carriage 19 rotates back to its desired position (i.e. perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of belt 11) belt 11 will realign to its centered position (FIG. 3A).
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Structure Of Belt Conveyors (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims (6)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US08/408,773 US5609241A (en) | 1995-03-23 | 1995-03-23 | Training idler assembly for a conveyor system |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US08/408,773 US5609241A (en) | 1995-03-23 | 1995-03-23 | Training idler assembly for a conveyor system |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US5609241A true US5609241A (en) | 1997-03-11 |
Family
ID=23617708
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US08/408,773 Expired - Fee Related US5609241A (en) | 1995-03-23 | 1995-03-23 | Training idler assembly for a conveyor system |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
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US (1) | US5609241A (en) |
Cited By (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5743378A (en) * | 1993-11-22 | 1998-04-28 | As Techno Track | Device for stabilizing the conveyor belt in a self-adjusting belt steering assembly |
US6116410A (en) * | 1996-11-01 | 2000-09-12 | Svedala Trellex Ab | Device for steering a conveyor belt |
US6186317B1 (en) * | 1996-05-31 | 2001-02-13 | A/S Techno Track | Belt steering assembly for centering of conveyor belts |
US6431348B2 (en) * | 1999-09-03 | 2002-08-13 | Svedala Trellex Ab | Device for steering a conveyor belt |
US20040099510A1 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2004-05-27 | Martti Jankkila | Apparatus for controlling a belt used in the continously operated thermal treatment of a material bed |
US20090178901A1 (en) * | 2006-06-01 | 2009-07-16 | As Techno-Track | Guidance unit for conveyor belt |
US20090180805A1 (en) * | 2007-12-17 | 2009-07-16 | Makoto Nakura | Belt device and image forming apparatus |
US20100065402A1 (en) * | 2008-09-09 | 2010-03-18 | David Pruett | Belt conveyor |
US20110240788A1 (en) * | 2010-03-31 | 2011-10-06 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet conveyance unit and image forming apparatus including same |
US8474604B2 (en) * | 2011-03-28 | 2013-07-02 | Souhel Khanania | Systems and methods for belt alignment |
US8556068B2 (en) | 2010-05-10 | 2013-10-15 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Method and apparatus for tracking conveyor belts |
US20150166264A1 (en) * | 2013-12-18 | 2015-06-18 | Precision, Inc. | Conveyor belt aligning apparatus |
US9145262B2 (en) | 2014-02-20 | 2015-09-29 | Mettler-Toledo, LLC | Conveyor belt tracking mechanism and conveyor employing the same |
US9884730B2 (en) | 2015-11-12 | 2018-02-06 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Apparatus and method for tracking conveyor belts |
US9884722B2 (en) | 2012-03-08 | 2018-02-06 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Apparatus and method for tracking conveyor belts |
CN115057162A (en) * | 2022-07-01 | 2022-09-16 | 中联装备集团北新机械有限公司 | Automatic belt deviation rectifying device and method |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3119535A (en) * | 1962-01-11 | 1964-01-28 | Armco Steel Corp | Automatic strip guide |
US3512691A (en) * | 1967-12-07 | 1970-05-19 | Sp K Bjuro Oboru Dlya Proizv A | Automatic devices for centering the moving processing cloth |
US3593841A (en) * | 1969-11-03 | 1971-07-20 | United States Steel Corp | Idler roller actuating device |
-
1995
- 1995-03-23 US US08/408,773 patent/US5609241A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3119535A (en) * | 1962-01-11 | 1964-01-28 | Armco Steel Corp | Automatic strip guide |
US3512691A (en) * | 1967-12-07 | 1970-05-19 | Sp K Bjuro Oboru Dlya Proizv A | Automatic devices for centering the moving processing cloth |
US3593841A (en) * | 1969-11-03 | 1971-07-20 | United States Steel Corp | Idler roller actuating device |
Cited By (21)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5743378A (en) * | 1993-11-22 | 1998-04-28 | As Techno Track | Device for stabilizing the conveyor belt in a self-adjusting belt steering assembly |
US6186317B1 (en) * | 1996-05-31 | 2001-02-13 | A/S Techno Track | Belt steering assembly for centering of conveyor belts |
US6116410A (en) * | 1996-11-01 | 2000-09-12 | Svedala Trellex Ab | Device for steering a conveyor belt |
US6431348B2 (en) * | 1999-09-03 | 2002-08-13 | Svedala Trellex Ab | Device for steering a conveyor belt |
US20040099510A1 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2004-05-27 | Martti Jankkila | Apparatus for controlling a belt used in the continously operated thermal treatment of a material bed |
US7669709B2 (en) * | 2006-06-01 | 2010-03-02 | Hovstoe Kenneth | Guidance unit for conveyor belt |
US20090178901A1 (en) * | 2006-06-01 | 2009-07-16 | As Techno-Track | Guidance unit for conveyor belt |
US8238793B2 (en) * | 2007-12-17 | 2012-08-07 | Ricoh Company, Limited | Belt device and image forming apparatus having a belt correcting unit and an adjusting unit |
US20090180805A1 (en) * | 2007-12-17 | 2009-07-16 | Makoto Nakura | Belt device and image forming apparatus |
US8577261B2 (en) | 2007-12-17 | 2013-11-05 | Ricoh Company, Limited | Belt device and image forming apparatus |
US20100065402A1 (en) * | 2008-09-09 | 2010-03-18 | David Pruett | Belt conveyor |
US9027867B2 (en) * | 2010-03-31 | 2015-05-12 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet conveyance unit and image forming apparatus including same |
US20110240788A1 (en) * | 2010-03-31 | 2011-10-06 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet conveyance unit and image forming apparatus including same |
US8556068B2 (en) | 2010-05-10 | 2013-10-15 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Method and apparatus for tracking conveyor belts |
US8474604B2 (en) * | 2011-03-28 | 2013-07-02 | Souhel Khanania | Systems and methods for belt alignment |
US9884722B2 (en) | 2012-03-08 | 2018-02-06 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Apparatus and method for tracking conveyor belts |
US20150166264A1 (en) * | 2013-12-18 | 2015-06-18 | Precision, Inc. | Conveyor belt aligning apparatus |
US9061831B1 (en) * | 2013-12-18 | 2015-06-23 | Precision, Inc. | Conveyor belt aligning apparatus |
US9145262B2 (en) | 2014-02-20 | 2015-09-29 | Mettler-Toledo, LLC | Conveyor belt tracking mechanism and conveyor employing the same |
US9884730B2 (en) | 2015-11-12 | 2018-02-06 | Flexible Steel Lacing Company | Apparatus and method for tracking conveyor belts |
CN115057162A (en) * | 2022-07-01 | 2022-09-16 | 中联装备集团北新机械有限公司 | Automatic belt deviation rectifying device and method |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY, TEXAS Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SHAW, GROVER P.;REEL/FRAME:007488/0294 Effective date: 19950309 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ARCH COAL, INC., MISSOURI Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY;REEL/FRAME:010557/0264 Effective date: 19990624 |
|
FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 4 |
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FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 8 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, PENNSYLVANIA Free format text: SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:ARCH COAL, INC.;REEL/FRAME:015541/0001 Effective date: 20041222 |
|
REMI | Maintenance fee reminder mailed | ||
LAPS | Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees | ||
STCH | Information on status: patent discontinuation |
Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362 |
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FP | Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee |
Effective date: 20090311 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, PENNSYLVANIA Free format text: SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:ARCH COAL, INC.;REEL/FRAME:026440/0760 Effective date: 20110614 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: UMB BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, MISSOURI Free format text: ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS (BORROWER);ASSIGNOR:ARCH COAL, INC.;REEL/FRAME:032815/0292 Effective date: 20131217 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ARCH COAL, INC., MISSOURI Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:PNC BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION;REEL/FRAME:039003/0400 Effective date: 20160623 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, IN ITS CAP Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:ARCH COAL, INC.;REEL/FRAME:040234/0699 Effective date: 20161005 |